April 14-17

Far too much preaching in many religious circles today neglects the subject of the Judgment. People want Jesus to be their friend to help them have their best life now, but what about the message of Jesus being appointed as the Judge of the living and the dead on that final day (Acts 10:42; 17:31)? Judgment is not popular; the masses who want their ears scratched have no appetite for it, but if they do not repent and love His appearing they will not receive a crown of life from Jesus, the righteousness judge (2 Tim. 4:1, 3, 8).

To remove the doctrine of the final judgment from our teaching about Jesus undermines His mission and identity. Jesus is to be taken seriously in regard to final judgment. He said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jn. 12:48). C

onsider John 5:22-23, where Jesus said, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.” Jesus cannot be cast aside as just another religious teacher, or someone we may or may not choose to have as a friend. What we do with Jesus is of ultimate importance. If we do not believe He is the I AM, we will die in our sins (Jn. 8:24). Whether or not we confess Him before men will determine whether He confesses our name before the Father to grant us access into eternal fellowship with God, eternal bliss (Mt. 10:32-33).

However, many who claim to follow Jesus only focus on the blessings He can give in this life; they are like the masses who came to be fed with bread but had no appetite for His hard sayings (Jn. 6). Think about how integral final judgment was to Jesus’ teaching. Take the book of Matthew for example: to the persecuted for His sake, Jesus promised blessings in heaven (5:11-12); to those who claim to follow Him, but do not do His will, He warned of that day when He will say, “I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (7:21-23); He taught fear for Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell rather than fearing those who can only kill the body (10:28); He warned entire cities of their great fall in the day of judgment (11:20-24); He alerted people to the fact that in the day of judgment, they shall give an account of every idle word they have spoken (12:36-37); He gave the vivid illustrations of the wheat being separated from the tares on that day (13:29-30), the good fish from the bad (13:47-51), and the sheep from the goats (25:31-46); in plainer terms, He showed how the faithful servants would be separated from those who abused their master’s trust (24:45-51), and that a reckoning would be made of how the master’s goods were used (25:14-30); He warned the false religious leaders of their path toward eternal damnation (23:13-33), and He appealed to all men concerning that final day, His marriage to His bride, the church—that they be ready instead of being caught without a wedding garment (22:1-14) or not having enough oil to be ready if the bridegroom tarries (25:1-13).

Ultimately, Jesus came to die to save us on that final day (Mt. 18:11). We come together to remember His death in the Lord’s supper and look forward to that final day (Mt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:26). Yes, He can help us in this life, but our focus should be on what He has done so that we can go into life eternal on the day of judgment rather than getting our deserved everlasting punishment (Mt. 25:46). – Mark Day